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Magic item
}} In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it. These items may act on their own or be the tools of the character possessing them. Magic items have been prevalent in the game in every edition and setting, from the original edition in 1974 until the modern fifth edition. In addition to jewels and gold coins, they form part of the treasure that the players often seek in a dungeon. Magic items are generally found in treasure hoards, or recovered from fallen opponents; sometimes, a powerful or important magic item is the object of a quest. Artifacts Major artifacts include the ones in the following table. They are generally unique and exist for a specific purpose. Less powerful or potent artifacts, or ones that are not unique, are generally called minor artifacts. Overview of magic items by edition 1st edition AD&D In the first edition, all artifacts are classed as miscellaneous magic items, even ones that are weapons, armor, or rings. Each artifact has a certain number of Minor, Major, and Prime Powers, and of Minor, Major, and Side Effects which trigger when the item is acquired, or its Major and Prime Powers are used. The powers and effects are selected by the DM from a set of lists, so that players cannot predict the artifact's powers."This prevents players from gaining any knowledge of these items, even if they happen to own or read a copy of this volume, and it also makes each artifact and relic distinct from campaign to campaign." from Dungeon Master's Guide (first edition) 4th edition Ritual scrolls are single use consumable items, each of which contains a specific ritual (4th edition's equivalent of non-combat spells), halves the time required to perform that ritual and allows it to be performed without a ritual book. After it has been expended, a ritual scroll crumbles to dust. Unlike the scrolls of previous editions, 4th edition's scrolls are not classified as magical items.http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ex/20080528a 5th edition The 5th edition Dungeon Master's Guide introduced the concept of Item Rarity, in which magic items are given a rating between Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, and Legendary to denote the frequency in which this item is expected to be found within the game.Crawford, Jeremy and Mike Mearls''. Dungeon Master's Guide''. Wizards of the Coast. 2014. ISBN . Pp, 135-141. The only Common magic item to appear in the Dungeon Master's Guide is the Potion of Healing, with an additional list of Common items appearing in the supplementary book Xanathar's Guide to Everything.Crawford, Jeremy and Mike Mearls''. Xanathar's Guide to Everything''. Wizards of the Coast. 2017. ISBN . Pp 136-140. Artifacts act as a 6th Rarity category for items, such as the Hand of Vecna or the Wand of Orcus, in which there is only one of this item in existence.Crawford, Jeremy and Mike Mearls''. Dungeon Master's Guide''. Wizards of the Coast. 2014. ISBN . Pp. 219-227. The categories of magic items in 5th edition is Armour, Potions, Rings, Rods, Scrolls, Staffs, Wands, Weapons, and Wondrous Items (Which acts as a miscellaneous category). Some items require attunement to be used, limiting the number of items a character can benefit from at once to 3 attunable items. Examples Ioun stones (pronounced EYE-oon ) are based on similar artifacts from Jack Vance's Dying Earth series."The idea and name for the ioun stone originally appeared in a series of books written by Jack Vance. Collectively, these works are referred to as the Dying Earth novels. They include: The Dying Earth, Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel’s Saga, and Rhialto the Marvelous." (Hargenrader 1991, "Bazaar", p 90) When functioning, they float in a circular pattern around their bearer's head, and grant various benefits based on their color and shape. Two stones of the same type will repel each other, and when drained of power, a stone becomes a dull grey, but still possesses the characteristic floating. While useless to a mage, burned out stones can still yield a single psionic power point to a psionic character in 3rd and 3.5 editions. In the original Jack Vance stories Ioun stones are highly prized by arch-magicians, and are acquired from a race known as the archveults, who mine them from remnants of dead stars (in his book Rhialto the Marvellous). In 2E Dungeons & Dragons it had been conjectured in Dragon magazine that Ioun stones instead come from the Positive Material Plane. Dragon #174 featured an article that included many dozens of new types of ioun stone, as well as an article about an elemental lord who hoards ioun stones on his home plane of radiance.Hargenrader, Matthew P. "The Dragon's Bestiary" Dragon #174. (TSR, 1991). Under 3.0/3.5 editions of the rules they are instead manufactured by spellcasters in the same manner as other magical items. References Category:Dungeons & Dragons magical items